Ever thought that getting your hair washed at a salon can lead to a stroke? Well, a relaxing visit to the salon nearly turned into a nightmare for a 50-year-old who suffered from a stroke during a hair wash. As relaxing as head washes at the salon are, the hyper extension of the neck that comes into play by placing it on the washbasins can lead to a serious condition. This phenomenon is called beauty parlour stroke syndrome.

Here’s everything you need to know about the incident and all about this syndrome.

50-year-old suffers a stroke while getting her hair washed at the salon

Hyderabad-based neurologist Dr Sudhir Kumar took to Twitter to share the case of the woman showing symptoms of nausea, vomiting and dizziness. “I recently saw a 50-year-old woman with symptoms of dizziness, nausea and vomiting, which started during her hair wash with shampoo in a beauty parlour. Initially, she was taken to a gastroenterologist, who treated her symptomatically.” Here’s everything you need to know about the incident. Here are the tweets by the neurologist.

“Initially, she was taken to a gastroenterologist, who treated her symptomatically. The symptoms did not improve, and the next day she developed a mild imbalance while walking. She was referred to me for an opinion. The symptoms did not improve, and the next day she developed a mild imbalance while walking. She was referred to me for an opinion. She had mild right-cerebellar signs. MRI brain revealed an infarct in the right posterior inferior cerebellar territory, MR angiogram showed left vertebral hypoplasia,” wrote Dr Kumar in another tweet.

How does the beauty salon stroke syndrome happen?

Dr Vinay Goyal, director of Neurology, Institute of Neurosciences, Medanta, Gurugram, Haryana, explains it as a syndrome that occurs when the neck is hyper-extended to some extent as a result of a jerk or certain pressure while having your hair shampooed and remaining in that position for an extended period of time. The hyper-extension of the neck can cause artery compression from simply changing position, or the bones can slide a little bit over the other, resulting in carotid or vertebral artery dissection. Dissection is a blood vessel tear, resulting in a blood clot that travels to your brain and causes a stroke.

Symptoms of the stroke

Further explaining the syndrome, Dr Shruti Vadke, Consultant Neurologist, Manipal Hospitals, Baner, Pune, said that this kind of stroke is associated with neck massages, referred to as cervical dissection by chiropractors. “There are four blood vessels that pass blood to the brain through the anterior and posterior parts of the neck. When a stroke occurs due to a block in the blood tubes in the posterior part of the neck, it is called a posterior circulation stroke.”

As per the expert, some of the common symptoms of an anterior stroke include a unilateral weakness of one arm, drooping of the face, and difficulty in speech. These symptoms are commonly associated with stroke. Whereas, posterior circulation symptoms include some different symptoms as well. Sudden issues with balance and coordination, difficulty while walking, falls or imbalance, the onset of giddiness, nausea or vomiting, increased headache, blurring of vision, or vision loss are some symptoms people need to be aware of.

Should you be worried?

Dr Goyal warns people to be careful, but there’s no need to panic. He calls it a rare occurrence as millions of people visit salons for massages and hair washes, but this doesn’t happen. “In this case, the patient is 50 years old and has controlled hypertension. Strokes become more common as we age due to a variety of causes such as a blocked artery (ischaemic stroke) or leaking or bursting of a blood vessel (hemorrhagic stroke) and some additional risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure (hypertension), obesity, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, and excessive alcohol consumption,” he elucidates.

However, he advises that the staff of the salon should practice precaution when washing and massaging customers, especially when attender older adults. It is better to request gentle massages rather than vigorous massages as they put “pressure on the blood vessels, which might lead to a brain stroke.” Customers are also advised to consult their doctor before getting massages if they suffer from an underlying health problem.